Nothing could touch her

Woman bullfighter on horseback rides in Tijuana

Monica Serrano was the only rejoneadora (female bullfighter on horseback) at the bullfights in Tijuana on August 3. Long hair streaking down her face, she confronted three bulls, riding straight and broad. Nothing could touch her. She’ll be back at the end of August.

Tickets cost a little over $10 on the sunny side of the ring. Beers are around $2, and snacks vary in price depending on what you have ganas for.

Every other fight involved the horses, while the odd fights were more pedestrian. Fabian Barba and José Mauricio were on the undercard, but Serrano was the draw. While the blood of the slaughtered bulls oozed, Serrano rocked the crowd, darting her horses dangerously in front of the horns. Other features included a couple of recortes, where the men wrestle the bull down by hand and then release it to fight in a later match.

The crowd was the usual mix of family and beer-guzzling weekend warriors. If there was any disappointment on Sunday it was in the failure of any of the toreros to put the bull down quickly.

A sword in the perfect spot — between the shoulder blades — does the trick when executed properly, but each bull’s death was slow and sloppy. When performed correctly, the kill is applauded and appreciated, but on Sunday there were boos from the crowd. Not even the heroics of Serrano dancing just outside of the horns of the bull drowned out the bitter disapproval of bullfighting fanatics.